MAYDAY 2026

Join us on Friday, May 1st (MAYDAY) to gather as neighbors and community members, sharing our skills and building relationships with eachother to fight for a better world, rooted in care and liberation. Skillshares will be held on Friday, 5/1/26 from 2:00 - 8:00 pm at Rhizome House and Hexagon Books (2174 and 2184 Lee Rd), followed by a live performance by SKWERM.

We welcome everyone to join us with their hearts, curiosities, and dignified rage!! 

THANK YOU FOR JOINING US FOR MAYDAY 2026: A Day of Skillshares at Rhizome House and Hexagon Books.

LOCATION: Rhizome House and Hexagon Books are located at 2174 and 2184 Lee Rd respectively. This day of skillshares ebb and flow between both locations. (See the map and fleshed out program for specific locations for each skillshare). Chairs will also be set out outside of the lovely Peace Lily plant store and across the street for folks looking to chill!

ACCESS: Both Rhizome House and Hexagon Books are wheelchair accessible (although the entryways at Hexagon are slightly narrow). There is a wheelchair ramp in the Rhizome side alley to get to the backyard. With the generous support of MaskBloc NEO, we will be providing and asking folks to mask for the entirety of the event (outside of eating and outdoor skillshares). We will also have CR air filters running in our inside spaces.

CHILDCARE: There is a designated childcare space at Hexagon Books and volunteers to hang with kiddos from 2 to 6 PM! After 6PM, we encourage our little ones to have dinner and enjoy the outside space and music with everyone!

FULL LIST O SKILLSHARES:

STOP THE BLEED *limited to 10 participations* – first come first serve 2 to 4 PM @ RZH Main Room

Join an official stop the bleed trainer to learn how to stop the bleed through a lecture presentation followed by practical hands on training using simulated injuries. Fake blood will be used!

TACTICAL GARDENING (GARDENING FOR RESILIENCY)                         2 to 4 PM @ RZH Outside

Join the Black Squirrel League of Autonomous Preppers to discuss what we can do NOW to prepare ourselves and our neighbors for emergencies that impact food. Attendees will leave with:
  1. An understanding of short vs long term crops
  2. A plan and supplies to prep your garden site
  3. Connections to community members also interested in gardening for resiliency
  4. SO MANY SEEDS (seeds also available throughout the day)

VENT SESH with the CRTC                                                                                         2 to 4 PM @ RZH Classroom

Join the Cleveland Radical Therapists Collective for a vent session pop-up and decompression space. Problem solve, ask a question, vent or stim out! Decompression space is also available at the RZH library for the whole day.
linktree.com/heyclertc

AUTONOMOUS SKILLSHARES/OPEN MIC                                                         2 to CLOSE @ RZH Kitchenette

Seeking to share a skill not reflected? Have an idea for a last-minute share? Come to the RZH Kitchenette area for an autonomous space to share skills and read materials together. Certain time slots already have presentation shares allocated (listed below)

3 to 4 PM: How to Talk to Strangers 101 (and build relationships to take risks together)

  • Come chat with a self-proclaimed pro-social prepper and practice your social skills. Low stakes, enjoyable conversations and tactics for relationship building await you!

5:30 to 6:30PM: Gift Economics with People’s Plumbing

  • Join workers from People's Plumbing (a gift economics based plumbing co-op) to popcorn read an article and discuss some common misconceptions about gift economics
  • peoplesplumbingcle.com

7 to 7:30PM: Disability Justice with Nightlight Books

  • Are you (or a loved one) grappling with the onset of a new bodymind reality? Want to hear about the lineage of disability activism? Or just bookish and nosy and want to find out how bookstores decide to curate their stores? Join Patrick (he/him) from Nightlight Books as he gives you a crash course on disability justice, disability literature, and how these efforts combine in the direction and curation of Nightlight Books, the first disability bookstore in the so called United States
  • linktr.ee/nightlight_books

CAFETEO {Spanish Language Practice Space}                                                   2 to 330 PM @ Hexagon Books Main Space

  • Join the very lovely polyglot Manuel for a Cafeteo – Coffee and Spanish conversation or space to learn and/or practice your Spanish language skills. Worksheets to learn Bystander Intervention Spaces around ICE and police presence will also be available. The bookstore will also be open to peruse and buy world literature.
  • https://hexagonbooks.org/

DEFENESTRATION 101                                                                                               2 to 330 PM @ Hexagon Books Conference Room

  • Learn how to get off of windows and on to linux in the most accessible way possible. Our skillsharer will demo the process of creating a bootable USB drive, common bios setting to turn off or on in order to allow installing an OS from that drive, and present linux mint and pop os as user-friendly alternatives to windows. If you can, bring a USB for learning!

POLICE WEAPONS & TACTICS PT 1                                                                 430 to 6 @ RZH Main Room

  • Come learn with a skilled street medic who will demystify the tools of the police to keep you safe in the streets. Part 1 will be a slideshow presentation. Stay tuned for Part 2 (an outside eye flush demo).

BIG FOOD!                                                                                                                       4 to 6 PM @ RZH Outside

→ Learn how to cook for crowds; lets feed the masses                                                   → Start in the Backyard: Eat your Neighborhood

  • Join us outside for a double-header on one of our most life-giving things: FOOD! We will be talking about the ins and outs of sourcing food for big events and how to cook for large groups. Participants will also get to help prepare food for our MAYDAY participants. Our beloved, Sage, will also take folks on a walk around the neighborhood pointing out different types of edible plants!

FOUNDATIONS OF COMMUNITY ORGANIZING within MUTUAL AID with the CTC                                                                                                                     430 to 6PM @ RZH Classroom

  • Join baddies of the Cleveland Trans Collective in learning how to sustain an organization and build mutual aid. Folks will focus on the foundations/building blocks of an org like ours, things you should do/ pay attention to, and things you should avoid, all while using examples from our experiences, thus serving as a retrospective as well. This will be in a presentation and discussion format!

FIX-IT-CLE                                                                                                                   330 to 530PM @ Hexagon Books Main Space

  • Join the ever so talented fix it crew to learn how to fix things and/or talk about the right to repair. Experienced sewists and fixers alike will be present to guide folks on how to mend apparel and fix electronics and other household items (phones, laptops, vacuums, audio gear, furniture, clothes, instruments, cameras, etc.) Bring your goods and clothes needing fixing!
  • https://sites.google.com/view/fixitcle/home

COLLECTIVE CHILDCARE                                                                                         330 to 430PM @ Hexagon Books Conference Room

  • Join an amazing child liberationist for an intro to youth liberation and social reproduction theory. Participants will listen, discuss, and fill out worksheets to create a plan to implement collective childcare in their own community. This workshop is geared towards teens & adults!

NOT YOUR ANCESTOR’S PODCAST with THE DUGOUT                                       5 to 6PM @ Hexagon Books Conference Room

  • How to Podcast! Join your comrades from the Dugout (a Black anarchist podcast) to go over some of the building blocks for DIY podcast and digital media.They will bring people through the workflow of building a podcast and the importance of anarchist media projects. They will  address concerns and strategies anarchists face in the media landscape as it stands.
  • @thedugoutpod

DINNER & MAYDAY STORY HOUR with MARGARET KILLJOY               6 to 7PM @ RZH Outdoors

  • Join acclaimed anarchist journalist Margaret Killjoy for a movement storytelling session over dinner. GF, DF, and Vegan options provided. Bring a dip or a folding chair for outdoor seating if you can!

OSTEOPATHIC MANIPULATIONS: TREATMENTS for FOLKS with ACHES & PAINS                                                                                                             630 to 730 PM @ RZH Library

  • Dr. Bomani-Bailey will be offering free Osteopathic Manipulations for folks with chronic aches and pains and headaches. Check out her website below for more info on OMM:
  • https://www.bomaniosteopathy.com/

TINY eREADER DEVELOPMENT                                                                           7 to 8 PM @ RZH Inside

  • Join a tech-inclined comrade for a presentation on how to build your own tiny ereader (size of a business card). They will show how to upload firmware and books and give out material lists. Soldering will be happening here!

Police Weapons & Tactics Pt. 2 - Eye Flush Demo                                            7 to 8 PM @ RZH Outside

  • Join our street medic for part 2 of the police tactics training → an outdoor eye flush demo. Folks are welcome to attend Part 2 even if they were not able to attend part 1.

HOW TO BAIL SOMEONE OUT OF COUNTY JAIL                                            7 to 8 PM @ RZH Classroom

  • Join folks from Books to Prisoners and Jail Support collectives for a how to bail someone out of county jail and space to answer other common anti-repression questions. Folks will have plenty of time for q & a and have the opportunity to receive resources including jail support forms.
  • books2prisoners.org

SKWERM - 830PM @ RZH Outside

  • Join Cleveland phenom Black femme punk band SKWERM for an acoustic set to close out our beautiful day of MAYDAY skillshares! Decompression spaces will also be available inside of Rhizome for folks looking for a chiller vibe.
  • @skwerm.band

ON THE IMPORTANCE OF MAYDAY...

This video from Haymarket Books and article from Crimethinc provide some great explainers on the importance and radical histories of May Day!

From Crimethinc, The May Days: Stories of Courage and Resistance